To the Top of the Mountain
by Stargazer79
Summary: All the dudes are missing! Will they be able to find them? Join in on the fun adventure! Story 1
1. Chapter 1

Callisto bounded down the stairs early one morning so fast that she rammed her shoulder into the wall at the bottom. She glared at Xena as she passed by the living room to the kitchen for breakfast.

Xena ignored Callisto, focused on polishing her sword. Five minutes later she heard what sounded like someone else tumbling down the stairs. She ignored that as well.

Tigra entered, spotting Xena on the couch and Callisto by the fridge. "We the only ones up?" she asked. Xena nodded. "Good, I hate when the kitchen's crowded in the morning and everyone's eating my cereal."

"You can expect more company soon, with the noisy way you two came down the stairs," Xena commented as Tigra joined Callisto in the kitchen.

Sure enough, more people actually dragged their lazy butts out of bed, even if just to see if someone was lying dead at the bottom of the stairs. Soon the kitchen was swamped with people trying to scrounge up some breakfast.

"Excuse me," Mattie said to get Tataka's attention. Tataka seemed to not hear her and continued her conversation with Hope.

"Excuse me!" Mattie said louder, tapping Tataka on the shoulder. Tataka just shrugged her off.

"You shall heed my warning!" Mattie shouted, pulling Tataka's braided hair. Then she shrank under the killer glare that was turned on her.

"Uh, your waffles are burning..." Mattie warned.

Tataka quickly popped the blackened waffles from the toaster, burned her fingers a little while transferring them to a plate, and turned back to Mattie.

"My waffles didn't burn," she said. "Yours did."

Tataka shoved the plate into the other woman's hand, snatching Mattie's bowl of Cocoa Puffs for herself. Mattie glared but didn't want to suffer the wrath of Tataka, so she simply set the burnt waffles on the counter and got more Cocoa Puffs.

"Is it just me," Rogue began, not talking to anyone in particular, "or does it seem less crowded in here than usual?"

"Well, none of the big, giant men are up yet," Sunny replied, pulling the stool next to Rogue out.

Rogue stuffed her face with a forkful of pancakes, then said, "Hm, you're right, sugar." Sunny casually passed the sugar to Rogue.

"What, I didn't ask for this," Rogue said, shoving the small container aside. "You think I'm gonna put sugar on my pancakes?"

Sunny shrugged. Storm sat on the other side of Rogue, grabbing the sugar and sprinkling some on her pancakes. Rogue stared at her for a moment. Storm pretended like she didn't notice, but as soon as Rogue looked away she fixed her hair self-consciously.

"It is kinda weird though, don't ya think?" Rogue continued. "All the dudes still in bed? Usually atleast Hercules is up for his morning work out, or Iolaus II making waffles for everyone."

Storm looked up from her sugar covered blueberry pancakes. "It is odd. I have not seen any of them besides Mephistopheles."

"And he hardly counts," Rogue snickered.

"Men are just lazy," Sunny said.

The flow of movement around the kitchen paused for a moment when everyone heard what sounded like yet _another _person falling harshly down the stairs.

Gabrielle stumbled into the living room. "Aw man!" she said when she saw Xena on the couch. "No matter how hard I try I can't get down here before you."

"Gabrielle, you can't even get down here before Mephistopheles, and he's a lazy dude," Xena responded.

Mephistopheles was oblivious to people talking about him as he fumbled with the TV remote in one hand and held a spoon above a bowl of Apple Jacks balanced dangerously on one knee in the other.

Xena looked at Gabrielle. "Wait, did you actually fall down the stairs for real?"

"Uh, yeah." Gabrielle reached up to touch her forehead, where a bruise was already forming.

Xena didn't know how to respond to that so she shooed Gabrielle away to the kitchen and went back to polishing her sword.

Trance bumped into Gabrielle on her way to the living room and sloshed some of the milk out of her bowl of Mini Wheats. She stared at it soaking into the carpet for a minute, then continued on to the chair in the living room. Zee came in behind her and sat next to Mephistopheles on the big couch.

"You know, that might work if you turn the TV on first," Zee suggested, gesturing to the remote.

"That's what I'm trying to do," Mephistopheles told her.

"It's the button at the top," Zee said. "Don't do what you did last time."

"Yeah, yeah, I muted it first," Mephistopheles said, then pushed the On button.

"Apparently not," Zee said when the TV came on so loud that it startled Trance and made her spill her Mini Wheats all over herself.

Mephistopheles laughed at her, then pointed to his own cereal bowl balanced on his knee. "Ha! Perfect balance." Trance simply climbed over the back of the couch to get more cereal.

"Turn that TV down, will you!" Rogue complained.

"Has anyone seen Jarem?" Trance asked everyone in the kitchen, in search of her friend.

"Thankfully, no," Hope answered. "Has anyone seen my dad?"

The room became full of shaking heads.

"Where is everyone?" Tigra asked. Nobody answered her, and the subject was dropped. Until two hours later when there was no change.

Rogue burst into the classroom where Zee was trying to play Spyro on the playstation.

"You seen Gambit lately?" Rogue asked, blocking Zee's view of the game.

"No," Zee replied. "Move, you'll make me run off a cliff."

"That's all you ever do," Rogue muttered.

"Meeting in the kitchen!" came Storm's voice. "Meeting!"

Rogue dragged Zee away from the game.

"Meeting, now!" Storm announced again because not everyone was coming. "And can someone turn that TV down?"

"Does anyone have like, a hammer to hit the table with, get everyones attention?" Mattie suggested.

The Executioner swung her axe through the air before anyone could stop her. It sliced into the counter with a loud crack of wood, where it stuck. Everyone came running in to see what the noise was.

"Well, that worked," Mattie mumbled.

"Some of us went to wake up our..." Storm was interrupted by Callisto.

"Where'd these burnt waffles come from?"

"They've been there," Rogue answered. "Now pay attention, Callisto."

"As I was saying," Storm continued, raising her voice over the blaring TV, "we went to wake up our friends and found that all of the men and Lara are gone!"

**Will they figure out what happened to the others? Will anyone ever turn that blasted TV down? And what will become of the burnt waffles? Find out in the next chapter! ...Or will you?**


	2. Chapter 2

"Where did they go?" Gabrielle asked, shocked.

"Do you think they were kidnapped?" Tigra answered with a question.

"You there," Storm pointed at Mephistopheles. "Go turn the TV off so we can all hear each other."

Storm's pointing finger threatened the zap of a lightning bolt, so Mephistopheles just grumbled as he reluctantly went to do so.

"Who would kidnap fifteen people?" Sunny asked.

"Maybe it was Hope, daughter of darkness and all," Zee said.

"If you hadn't noticed, I'm right here you..."

"Ah!" Trance cut Hope off. "Please don't call people mean names."

"...stupidhead," Hope finished. Trance gave her a betrayed look.

"Besides," Tataka put in, "Mr Darkness himself is one of the missing people."

From the living room, where the TV was still making a lot of noise, everyone heard Mephistopheles shout, "I don't know how to work this thing!"

That was followed by a giant crash that shook the house, and the loud television was finally silenced. Tigra peeked in to see that he had knocked the whole TV stand over ontop of it and crushed it.

Just then Xena, who nobody noticed had slipped away, came back into the kitchen. She held up a piece of paper. "I found this in Hercules' room."

"What's it say?" Gabrielle asked, reaching for it.

Xena snatched it away from the grasping hands and read, "If you want your friends back you must follow the trail. The next clue is on top of this mountain." Xena held out the note to show a map.

"Let's go, we must find them!" Storm exclaimed before dramatically blasting away some of the ceiling with lightning and flying out.

"No more sugar on her pancakes," Rogue said, then flew after Storm. "Hey Storm, come back! Think for a moment hon, not everyone can fly."

Storm paused, then turned and followed Rogue back through the hole in the ceiling. She landed ontop of the counter for a better chance of getting all the distracted people to listen.

"Everyone, this is important," she said. "Our friends could be in danger!"

Zee caught Trance when she nearly fainted.

"You stepped on the burnt waffles," Callisto pointed out, laughing.

"Forget the waffles, Callisto!" Storm yelled, kicking the plate. Everyone ducked as it soared across the kitchen and shattered against the fridge. Some people stepped away from Storm, afraid their faces would be next.

"Let's just follow the map," Rogue said simply.

"Do we all have to?" Tataka complained.

"Do you want to stay here and fix the roof, the TV, or the counter with the axe in it?" Rogue replied.

Everyone was silent. The Executioner removed her axe from the counter.

"All right," Storm began, her voice sounding extra loud in the now quiet room. "Let's pack up some things we might need in the cars and follow the map."

The group dispersed to try and find some necessary items before meeting out front. Everyone had a backpack stuffed with things that might come in handy. Other things were thrown into the three mini vans.

"I will drive one car, and Rogue and Tigra will drive the others," Storm told them.

"Why do you get to be in charge?" Hope asked.

"Because I am the oldest and maturest," Storm replied.

"Is maturest even a word?" Gabrielle whispered to Zee, who shrugged.

Everyone got into the cars. Xena sat beside Storm, still clutching the map, and told her where to go while the others followed.

"Do you think the dudes are all right?" Mattie asked.

"I hope so," Gabrielle answered.

"I wonder who kidnapped them."

"Maybe it was Dahak," Mattie suggested.

"But why would he give us a chance to rescue them?" Gabrielle questioned.

"Good point."

"Maybe all the dudes kidnapped Lara and ran away."

"Actually it would probably be Lara kidnapping all the dudes." Mattie looked thoughtful. "What if it's some giant monster, or an alien testing us to see if we're smart enough to track them down? And if we are, they'll take us as slaves?"

"Do not let your imaginations run wild now, children," Storm said. "You will only scare yourselves."

"Hey, just because you're..." Mattie paused to count on her fingers, "...like six years older than me doesn't mean you can call me a child."

"And we're not scared," Gabrielle added.

Xena silently reached behind her chair and poked Gabrielle when she wasn't looking. Gabrielle screamed, which made Mattie jump. Xena laughed at them.

In the car behind that one, Rogue was trying to concentrate on the road.

"Will ya'll be quiet back there! I'm trying to drive here!" she yelled. In a lower voice she added, "I _would_ get the full car."

"Full of all the crazy, unmanageable people," Sunny said from the passenger seat. She turned to see what was going on behind her.

"I've had enough of you kicking my chair, Hope!" Callisto screamed, kneeling in her seat and clawing at Hope behind her.

"I've had enough of you!" Hope returned.

Mephistopheles ducked when the Executioner swung her axe at his head. "Put that thing down!" he demanded.

"Ya'll settle down right now or I'm coming back there!" Sunny shouted at them.

"You two and your southern accents are annoying me!" Tataka said.

"Your face is annoying me!" Sunny shot back.

"You're not helping," Rogue told her.

The car behind them swerved when Rogue came to a sudden stop.

"Rogue needs to work on her driving," Tigra commented.

"It's not Rogue's fault," Zee said. "Look at all the activity going on in there."

"Yeah, I guess I have it easy," Tigra said. Zee turned to see only Trance behind them, looking out the window.

They drove for a long time, straight into forest country. They were traveling on a deserted, hardly used road. In the distance was a mountain.

"That's where the next clue should be," Xena said, pointing.

"We are nearly there," Storm responded.

Suddenly the road opened up in front of them, revealing a pit full of sharp rotating saw blades. Storm slammed on the brakes and came to a halt at the edge of the deadly pit.

"That was a close-" Storm was abruptly cut off when Rogue, who had been unable to pay attention at the moment, rammed into them from behind.

"Oh no!" Rogue exclaimed, bursting through the windshield. She caught the back of the car as it was tipping forward. The front end shredded as the razor sharp blades tore into it. Two black, tentacle-like contraptions shot out of the pit and latched onto the van, trying to pull it in while Rogue fought to pull it out.

The inside of the car was filled with frightened screams. "Don't panic!" Xena told them as Storm opened her door and flew out.

"One at a time." Xena reached back and grabbed Gabrielle's arm, helping her to the front and out the door. Storm took hold of her and flew her to safety.

When it was Mattie's turn her long jacket somehow got wrapped around the steering wheel. Storm tried to pull her out but couldn't. The car lurched forward and they heard Rogue's voice telling them to hurry.

Xena tore Mattie's jacket from the steering wheel and Storm took her from the car. Xena flipped out behind her, landing on the roof and running up it. She jumped off and back onto the road. A wide-eyed Gabrielle ran up to hug her.

Rogue let the saw blades take the van, relieved that everyone escaped.

"Oh my gosh, are ya'll okay?" Sunny asked as she and the others from the second car surrounded them.

"Mentally scarred for life, but yeah, we're good," Mattie answered.

Callisto started laughing, and Hope and Mephistopheles had smirks on their faces. Rogue slapped Callisto on the arm. "You guys are so rude."

"That's an understatement," Mattie said.

Just then Tigra drove up the otherwise deserted road and everyone jumped out of the car. "What happened here?" Zee asked.

"A bit of trouble," Xena responded. "Where were you?"

"We got stuck behind some dreadfully slow guy that drove like Jarem," Tigra informed them, eyeing the pit of blades. Beyond that the road continued on toward the mountain.

"Looks like whoever kidnapped the dudes set some traps," Tataka stated.

"We might want to be careful," Trance said. "Like really, really careful."

"Well, come on everyone," Rogue said. "Looks like we're gonna have to travel on foot the rest of the way."

**Will they survive the traps and find the dudes? Will Storm get off her sugar high? And will Callisto ever learn manners? Find out later!**


	3. Chapter 3

The group walked until the road became crumbled and cracked under their feet as it entered the forest, which seemed to be more of a jungle. Eventually the road just disappeared beneath the forest floor and it became obvious why it was so deserted.

Storm walked at the front of the group with Rogue and Xena. "I'm going to fly ahead and check for more possible traps," she said.

"Let me come with you," Rogue replied. "Nobody should go off alone out here, just in case."

Storm nodded her agreement and the two of them took off to scout ahead. Xena kept walking, looking back to make sure everyone was still there.

"You in the back!" she called. "No lagging behind."

"But we're tired!" Gabrielle whined immaturely, tripping over a root.

"Well, don't come crying to me when you get lost." Xena turned her attention back to the overgrown trail ahead.

"Ow!" Tataka suddenly yelped. She tried to lean on Hope to look at the bottom of her foot but only succeeded in knocking them both over.

"Tataka!" Hope grumbled.

"I stepped on something," Tataka replied. She pulled a thorn out of her foot.

"Maybe if you wore shoes that wouldn't happen." Hope pushed Tataka off of her and stood.

The Executioner tripped over a log and fell on her face. She started shrieking and thrashing on the ground.

"Now is not the time for a temper tantrum," Zee said, stepping near her to make her get up. She jumped back quickly when she almost got her leg chopped off by the Executioner's axe.

"She's not having a tantrum," Mephistopheles said, pointing. "Those vines are attacking her!"

People started laughing at him for saying something as stupid as that, but at a closer look everyone could see writhing green vines wrapping around the Executioner.

"Well, do something!" Mattie exclaimed.

"You!" Mephistopheles replied, harshly shoving Mattie toward the danger. Mattie swiftly sidestepped to hide behind Callisto.

Then Xena came charging in with a warcry. She flipped to avoid the swinging axe, landing with one foot on either side of the Executioner. Xena jabbed her sword straight down until the tip reached the dirt. She yanked it out and blood spurted.

"You killed her!" Sunny exclaimed. Tigra caught Trance when she fainted.

"Calm yourselves," Xena said. "I didn't kill her."

Xena lifted the Executioner up from the ground. A pile of dead snakes tumbled to the dirt.

"Oh," Sunny said lamely.

"Did they bite you?" Xena asked, checking the Executioner over and getting all in her personal space.

The Executioner backed up, slapping Xena's hands away. "Fine, fine. Guess not. Let's keep moving." Some people groaned.

"Tough," Xena said, leading the way. They'd only been walking for a few minutes when Storm and Rogue returned.

"There's a crazy rushin' river up ahead," Rogue reported. "We'll need to help each other get across."

"Of course," Hope said. "It's never as easy as just walking to the place and finding the people."

"What if we're walking into a trap at the top of the mountain?" Mattie questioned.

"What did I say about your imaginations?" Storm replied.

"Uh...imagination is important?" Mattie tried.

"Ooh, ooh," Gabrielle jumped forward, waving her hand in the air. "The best stories come from the imagination?"

"I know!" Sunny joined in. "You are what you imagine?"

"Do we get a prize if we get it right?" Trance asked.

"No," Storm said. Trance looked dejected. "I told you not to let your imaginations scare you."

"I'm not scared," Mattie mumbled.

They came upon the swirling, splashing river. It was quite wide and there was no sign of a bridge.

"Well, atleast we have an easy way across," Rogue stated. "Me and Storm can just carry ya'll to the other side." Rogue began with Xena while Storm took Tataka.

"I go next," Mephistopheles declared, stepping up near the river.

"No, I do." Callisto came up beside him.

Mephistopheles shoved her away. "I called it first."

"Doesn't matter."

"Guys, that is a really stupid thing to fight about," Zee pointed out.

Mephistopheles turned to look at her just as Callisto pushed him. He lost his footing on a slippery rock and fell into the river.

"Ugh, Callisto!" Tigra yelled before taking off down the river. She dropped to all fours and ran like a cat. A couple of the others tried to follow but they were too slow to keep up.

"Rogue!" Zee cried. Rogue turned to look across the river at Zee as she was setting Xena on dry land. Zee pointed downstream to where Tigra ran. Rogue caught sight of Mephistopheles in the water and flew in that direction.

Mephistopheles struggled to stay above water but he kept going under. He crashed into a pile of rocks and was knocked unconscious.

Tigra stopped on the shore near him but he was stuck in the rocks too far out for her to reach. She spotted Rogue flying her fastest, trying to get to him. When she looked back to Mephistopheles she saw that he was beginning to slip.

Tigra looked ahead and spotted a fallen tree not far from where she was. Its many branches hung into the river. She took off for it, climbing among the branches until she was far out over the water.

She dug her claws in as the tree shook with the movement of the water. She looked back to see Mephistopheles slip from the rocks just as Rogue was about to reach him.

The river swept him away toward the tree. Tigra readied herself on a branch just above the water. She reached for him as he came by but the river caused him to tumble underwater for a moment and she missed him by an inch.

She let out a growl and hurriedly followed him along the branches. She leaped to the very last one, grabbing it with one hand and falling halfway in herself, but she managed to seize Mephistopheles' wrist.

"Gotcha," Tigra said triumphantly. She flung him onto her back and carefully climbed back to shore.

Rogue landed next to them. "Is he alright?" she asked.

Tigra whacked him on the back a couple times until he coughed up some water and opened his eyes. "Woah," he muttered, swaying on his feet and raising a hand to his head where there was a bloody gash.

"Looks like you smacked your head on a rock or something," Tigra said, reaching toward it.

Mephistopheles flinched away from her hand. "Don't touch it!"

"Let's get you two to the other side," Rogue said. She lifted Mephistopheles over her shoulder depite his protests and Tigra hung on as Rogue flew them across the river and back to the others. Storm had gotten a couple more people across.

"Are you okay?" Mattie asked, running over to help.

"Yeah, mostly," Mephistopheles replied. "It's just this weak body."

"I know what you mean," Tataka said, shooting a look Gabrielle's way.

"Hey, it's not my fault you guys decided to possess my body," Gabrielle said defensively, then suddenly feeling the need to hide behind Xena.

Mattie set to work cleaning Mephistopheles' wound while Storm and Rogue continued to bring people across the river. Once everyone was on the other side the group set off again for the mountain. Their pace got slower and slower as everyone began to get tired.

"Let's go just a little farther," Storm said. "Then we will stop and have dinner."

After some more walking people started to get cranky.

"Can we slow down?" Mattie called to the front.

"My feet hurt," Sunny complained.

Hope stumbled over a rock and nearly fell. "Stupid rock!"

Hope turned and kicked the rock, sending it flying into Gabrielle's leg.

"Ow! I hate you!" Gabrielle shoved Hope, who bumped the Executioner, who ran into Callisto.

"Settle down back there," Rogue said, looking behind her when Callisto screamed and roughly pushed the Executioner to the ground. "We're almost to the base of the mountain. Then we'll stop."

Rogue's attempt to calm them didn't work. Callisto jumped onto the Executioner and pinned her facedown in the dirt. Hope tackled Gabrielle and held her down in almost the same position.

"That's enough!" Xena roared, scaring everybody. She pulled Callisto and Hope off of their victims. She released Callisto's hair when Rogue restrained her. Hope flailed in the air as Xena held her above the ground by her shirt. Gabrielle scrambled up off the ground and glared.

"You two better behave yourselves and don't cause anymore trouble," Xena warned them. She dropped Hope, who scampered away.

Everyone had just begun moving again when Trance interrupted. "Uh, she's not getting up." Trance pointed to the Executioner still lying on her face.

"What did you do, Callisto!" Xena demanded, stepping over to the Executioner.

"All I did was sit on her!" Callisto replied. "Maybe she's just weak."

"Maybe you're just fat," Tataka said.

Callisto lunged but Storm shoved her back. "Don't start!"

Xena kneeled, rolled the Executioner over, and made her sit leaning against her knee. Her eyes fluttered open and she just stared up at Xena.

"Is something wrong?" Zee asked, joining them on the ground.

"Maybe she hit her head when she fell." Xena ran her hand through the Executioner's bangs and pushed her hood back. Her expression turned to one of worry. "She feels hot."

Zee put her own hand against the Executioner's forehead and nodded, looking troubled.

"Do you feel sick?" Xena asked.

The Executioner didn't answer and tried to look away. Xena turned her face to make her look at her again. Some of the Executioner's hardly-ever-brushed hair fell away from her neck with the motion and Xena caught sight of two little red marks.

Xena stood abruptly, dragging the Executioner up with her. Tataka came over to help the unsteady Executioner stand.

"What is it?" she asked when Xena started pacing angrily.

"She got bit by one of those snakes," Xena answered, showing everyone the bite. She paced back and forth a couple more times, then turned back to the Executioner.

"Why didn't you tell me!?" The Executioner looked away again, leaning on Tataka.

"Well, this complicates things," Rogue commented.

**Will the Executioner be alright? Will everyone be able to get along so they can rescue the dudes? And will Xena get over her anger issues? Keep reading to find the answers!**


	4. Chapter 4

The group stopped not far from the base of the mountain when the Executioner could barely walk anymore. They made her comfortable while everyone ate some food that they'd brought in their backpacks.

"Do you think she's gonna die?" Zee whispered, biting into a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"I don't know," Sunny replied quietly.

"Does anyone even care?" Callisto asked a little too loudly. Sunny and Zee stared at her. "I mean, she's _the Executioner. _All she wants to do is cut people's heads off." Callisto ate some of her own sandwich. "I don't think anyone cares."

"I care," Xena cut in, obviously having overheard Callisto's heartless words. "Because she's my friends mirror self. If she dies, Gabrielle dies."

"That's a weird way of caring..." Zee mumbled after Xena had walked away.

"How's your cut?" Mattie asked, sliding onto a log next to Mephistopheles. She started inspecting his forehead.

Mephistopheles ducked and brushed her hand away. "What, are you my personal nurse now?"

They both looked up when they heard Tigra chanting, "Mephistopheles and Mattie, sittin' in a tree, k-i-s-i-n-g!"

Mephistopheles and Mattie glared at her.

"You spelled kissing wrong," Rogue pointed out. Tigra glared at her.

"There's alot of glaring going on around here," Trance said. "Can't we all just love each other?" Everyone gave her an odd look. Trance averted her eyes and shrugged. "Just a thought."

Xena sat beside Storm. "Do you hear that?" she asked.

Storm went still and listened. "Yes." She nodded. "People surrounding us in the woods."

"How do you guys do that?" Gabrielle wondered. "I don't even hear..."

Xena silenced her by putting a finger over Gabrielle's mouth. "Shh. Go tell everyone to prepare for an attack," Xena told her.

Gabrielle nodded and obediently went to do so. Xena and Storm helped until everyone was huddled together beside the Executioner, who was resting on a blanket spread on the ground.

"Here's what we'll do," Xena told them. "We'll have a better chance if..."

They attacked before she could finish. A bunch of men dressed in camoflauge leaped out from behind bushes and trees, holding knives among other weapons.

Xena whirled, pulling her sword out and slashing a few down. Storm rose into the air and blew a group of men back with a rush of wind. Rogue punched a couple of guys out and threw some back into the woods.

The more vulnerable people fell back and the stronger fighters made a protective circle around them. Trance and Mattie knelt beside the Executioner, arming themselves with stones. Sunny and Gabrielle found a couple of long sticks and stood around them in case any bad guys got through.

Tataka, Tigra, and Zee put their fighting skills to good use while Hope simply turned the enemies' hand-to-hand weapons against themselves with a look.

Mephistopheles managed to hold his own against a group of them for a while but started to become overwhelmed. Xena helped him by throwing her chakram and knocking a few of them out, and Storm sent some lightning bolts to assist him.

Callisto got into it, screaming and laughing as she shot fireballs from her fingers. Some plants caught fire and it started to spread.

"Callisto, tone it down or you'll kill us all!" Tataka yelled at her.

"Storm, the fire!" Rogue shouted.

Storm called down some rain before it could turn into an all out forest fire. A few of the bad guys broke through the barrier of stronger people and advanced on the weaker ones.

Gabrielle and Sunny fought them off with their sticks, but more just kept coming. The two of them got pinned down, their sticks ripped from their hands.

Trance tried to help them by attacking from behind but she, too, was restrained. Beside the Executioner Mattie tried to punch an enemy, but he grabbed her wrist and forced her to the ground.

The Executioner managed to lift her heavy axe and drop it sideways on the dudes head before passing out. It knocked him out cold and Mattie pushed him aside. But then another one jumped on her and she struggled against him.

The enemies managed to restrain everyone but Storm, Rogue, Xena, Hope, and Callisto. More than one man had to hold some of them. Sunny stood with her hands held behind her back beside Tataka, who was wriggling in her captors grasp.

"Tataka, my pocket!" Sunny blurted before the dude holding her covered her mouth and ordered her to shut up.

Tataka twisted in her dude's hold and licked the side of his face. "Ahh!" he screamed, releasing her to try to wipe the burning, acidic spit off his cheek.

Tataka quickly reached into Sunny's big pocket and pulled out a gun. Having never seen a gun before she took a moment to figure out how to work it, but was soon shooting it at the people still fighting. She didn't hit much with her bad aim but it made the men scatter.

Once Hope was no longer occupied by her attacker she sent rocks,sticks, and dropped knives flying through the air, pummeling the dudes restraining the others.

"Retreat!" one of the bad guys yelled, ducking randomly whenever he heard the gun go off. Callisto sent him running away on fire and the rest of the camo dudes followed.

"Is everyone okay?" Rogue asked once they were all gone.

"Nothing serious,"Tigra announced, and everyone else mumbled their status.

"We make a pretty good team, kind of," Zee said.

"Yeah, most of us," Mattie agreed. "She has issues."

Mattie pointed toward Callisto, who was still screaming and shooting fireballs into the woods, which Storm patiently kept putting out with little rainclouds.

"Stop, Callisto," Xena said, pulling Callisto away back to the campfire. "They're gone."

"You're no fun," Callisto said. Xena ignored her.

Sunny took her gun from Tataka. "I'm never letting you have this again," she said.

"If it wasn't for me having that we might never have gotten away," Tataka replied.

"_I _would have gotten away," Hope said.

"If you had, would you come back for me?" Tataka asked.

"No," Hope said simply, then went to check on the Executioner.

Tataka looked insulted for a moment, then shook it off. "She's just kidding. She'd come back for me," she whispered to Sunny. Sunny had stopped listening a while ago, so she didn't respond.

After a little bit the tired people dozed off. The others kept watch for a while but eventually fell asleep as well.

**Will the Executioner get better? Will they ever manage to reach the top of the mountain? Or will Callisto just go insane mental psycho on everyone and kill them all? Come back for more of the fun adventure!**


	5. Chapter 5

"Is she any better?" Tataka asked the next morning, walking over to where Hope sat beside the Executioner. The Executioner was falling in and out of consciousness, sweating and shivering at the same time.

"The same," Hope replied.

Xena came to check on her. "Rogue can carry her," she said. "We need to keep moving."

"Rise, sleepyheads," Storm called to everyone. A few of the late sleepers just pulled their blankets over their faces. Storm made the wind blow the blankets away.

Mattie grumbled but got up and started folding her blanket. Zee smelled cooking fish that someone had fetched from the river, so she accepted her loss of a blanket and went to get some. Mephistopheles just curled up and went back to sleep.

"Storm!" Gabrielle complained before Storm could do anything drastic to Mephistopheles. "You blew my blanket into a tree." Storm sighed and flew up to get it.

When everyone was ready to set off Rogue went over and scooped up the Executioner, waking her up. "Can someone take her axe away?" Rogue said, nearly getting smacked in the face with the weapon.

Callisto tried to pull the axe away but the Executioner wrapped both arms around it and wouldn't let go. "It won't give me the axe!" Callisto whined.

"It's not an it," Hope told her, forcing the axe away with her mind.

"Says you," argued Callisto. "Which you didn't, by the way."

"Don't start," Xena warned.

The group resumed their hike. The ground began sloping uphill when they finally reached the mountain.

"Who do you think those guys were who attacked us?" Trance asked, trying to break the silence.

"They were probably sent by the kidnapper to try and stop us," Tigra replied.

"Well, why did they leave a note if they didn't want us to come?" Trance wondered.

"Hmm, that is a little confusing," Sunny commented.

"Be aware for any more traps or attacks," Storm advised.

The group fell into silence again, suspicious looks turned to every odd noise or sight. It became too much for some people and they started another conversation.

"I still think it's a scary alien that kidnapped them and is testing us," Mattie said.

"I'm an alien. Do I scare you?" Zee questioned.

"...maybe," Mattie replied. "What kind of alien are you anyway?"

"A Mephitisoid," Zee answered.

"A Mephistopheles?" Mattie asked.

"No, a Mephitisoid," Zee repeated slowly.

"Oh," Mattie said, not going to try to say that.

"I hope it's not an alien," Gabrielle said, determined to keep the conversation going to distract her.

Xena pulled Gabrielle up to walk in the front. "Don't listen to them, Gabrielle," she said. "It's not an alien."

"Okay." Gabrielle couldn't keep up with the tall people so she fell back again. "It's not an alien," she told everyone.

"How do _you _know?" Mephistopheles questioned.

"Xena said so."

"How does _she _know?"

"Xena knows everything," Gabrielle said simply.

Zee poked Mephistopheles before he could start an argument.

"I swear she'd believe it if Xena told her there was a tuxedo-wearing badger riding a flying rainbow donkey that left a trail of cookie crumbs who hovered outside her window every Thursday night," Mephistopheles whispered.

"Shut up, unless you want _Xena_ to hear you and come back here," Zee shot back.

The terrain got steeper and rockier as they moved up the mountain. The quiet was interrupted by noises of frustration as people tripped and stumbled uphill.

Xena suddenly stopped and Tigra ran into her. "What?" Tigra whispered.

Xena motioned to their right with her head. Tigra looked and spotted a group of the camo dudes peeking out from behind trees and large rocks, aiming bows and arrows at them.

"Run!" Xena called.

Everyone did, sprinting as fast as they could over the uneven ground. Sunny helped Trance up when she tripped. Arrows shot toward the group but Storm deflected them with wind. Xena threw her chakram and took a couple of the dudes out.

Rogue passed the Executioner over to Trance. "Hide behind those rocks," she told Trance and a couple others, pointing toward some giant boulders beside a steep cliff a bit farther up the mountain.

Trance, Mattie, Sunny, and Gabrielle kept running while the others stayed behind to fight off their attackers. When they got behind the boulders Mattie spotted an opening in the cliff wall.

"We can hide in there," she suggested.

Sunny peeked inside. The cave floor was covered in rocks and pebbles that spilled out of the entrance. "Looks like it caved in before," she said. "Let's just stay here."

A couple of arrows whizzed by their hiding place. Trance sat on the ground with the Executioner in her arms, looking from side to side nervously. Gabrielle peeked around the boulder.

"Yeah!" she exclaimed when she saw most of the enemies running. They jumped onto hidden camo ATV's and drove away. Then she spotted Zee wrestling with one.

"Get the remote!" Zee yelled, holding the giant guy in place by one arm twisted up behind his back. He held his other arm high in the air, keeping a little black box out of easy reach.

Mephistopheles was practically hanging off the dudes arm, keeping his fingers from pressing the single button on the remote. He managed to make the guy drop it, but the dude grabbed Mephistopeheles' arm and held him above the ground so he couldn't get to it either.

Zee held tight as the enemy tried to squirm from her grasp. Mephistopheles kicked at the dude but he wouldn't let go. The others came running toward them after finishing up their own little battles, but they were too late.

The guy stepped on the button. The device beeped and a few seconds later an explosion went off at top of the mountain. The dude dropped Mephistopheles and shoved the distracted Zee aside, then ran down the mountain. He jumped onto a hidden ATV and drove off.

Rocks, boulders, and dirt began pouring down the mountain toward them.

"Oh no!" Tigra exclaimed. "We'll never outrun that!"

"Hey!" Sunny called to get their attention from behind the boulders. "There's a cave here! Quick, you can still make it!"

Everyone rushed up to where the cave was and entered it. Soon after they got there the rockslide tumbled overtop, raining down past the entrance like a waterfall of dirt over the cliff.

Everyone had trouble staying on their feet as the ground shook. Tataka rolled out of the way of a loose rock falling from above, smacking into Callisto's legs. Callisto fell ontop of her and Gabrielle tumbled down beside them.

"Move!" Xena shouted, pulling Hope out of the way when a section of the ceiling collapsed. It seemed to start a chain reaction, and people screamed as more of the ceiling caved in. Rocks and dirt fell, blocking the entrance and filling the cave with blackness.

**Did anyone survive the rockslide? **_**Is **_**the kidnapper an alien, as Mattie thinks? And does Gabrielle really believe everything Xena says? Keep reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

"Is everyone alright?" Xena asked once the rockslide had stopped. Some people confirmed they were okay and others just coughed in reply.

"Callisto, some light please," Xena said.

Callisto created a bright flame in her palm and the cave was filled with its orange glow. A big pile of rocks sat where the entrance used to be.

"No!" Storm suddenly screamed, curling up into a pathetic ball on the ground. "Let me out!"

"We'll get you out, sugar," Rogue reassured her. "Just give me a sec."

Rogue began punching away at the blocked doorway and Hope went over to help. Trance and Gabrielle tried to comfort Storm, who was now rocking back and forth and mumbling to herself.

"Gosh, this stuff is thick!" Rogue said.

"Somebody help!" Tataka called from where she sat holding the Executioner. "She stopped breathing!"

Xena rushed over, taking the Executioner and laying her on the ground. She felt her weak pulse, then started doing mouth-to-mouth. After a couple of failed attemts Xena felt her pulse again. It just got weaker and weaker.

"No!" Xena cried desperately. She went back to trying to make the Executioner breath, frantic. "It's not working!"

"Let me help!" Trance said, trying to get through the people hovering around.

"Let her through," Xena growled.

The crowd parted and Trance came to kneel beside Xena, placing her hand on the Executioner's chest. Trance's hand glowed bright yellow, and the light seemed to pour through her fingers into the Executioner.

The Executioner's eyes snapped open and she inhaled a big breath of air. Xena and Trance helped her sit up.

"Why didn't you do that before?" Xena asked Trance.

"I uh...I... oh, look!" Trance exclaimed, avoiding the question. She drew attention away from herself by pointing dramatically at Mattie.

"What!?" Mattie cried. "Is there a spider on me!?"

Everyone started beating on Mattie to get the non-existant spider off.

Rogue pushed away the last of the rocks blocking their path. Then she went over to Storm and led her out of the cave. Everyone exited behind them.

The Executioner was able to stand and walk out on her own. Hope checked her forehead outside. "No more fever," she reported. "Looks like you're better."

A few people glanced questioningly over at Trance, who was trying not to be noticed as she pretended to be very interested in a plant.

"Come on, everyone," Tigra said, brushing herself off. "Let's keep moving."

They set off again, constantly on the lookout for enemies. "How about I scout ahead?" Zee volunteered.

"Do not go alone," Storm said. "It is not safe."

"I'll go with ya," Rogue said.

Zee ran ahead at a quick pace, leaping over boulders others had to walk around, while Rogue flew above her. There were less and less trees as the group moved up the mountain.

"What's wrong, Xena?" Gabrielle asked when she noticed her friend seemed extra grumpy.

"I just really hate when people try to keep things from me," Xena replied. "It just makes me want to... to... KILL THEM ALL!" Xena whipped out her sword and sliced a lonely sapling in a burst of anger.

Gabrielle yelped in surprise and fought the urge to run away. Xena calmly put her sword back.

"Well, then maybe you should know that I, uh..." Gabrielle began.

Xena turned to her. "You what, Gabrielle? Tell me."

"Uh, well, I accidentally used your toothbrush yesterday," Gabrielle said, quickly adding, "Please don't be mad at me!"

"Gabrielle, I'm not going to be mad about that," Xena laughed.

Gabrielle was relieved that Xena was now in a better mood. The group walked for a long time until, once again, people began getting cranky. Storm, Xena, and Tigra tried to ignore all the childish whining coming from behind them.

"Stop following me!" Mephistopheles demanded, walking around a big rock and glaring when Sunny did the same.

"I'm not trying to!" Sunny returned.

"Ow, stop stepping on the backs of my feet, Executioner!" Mattie complained.

The Executioner swung her axe at Mattie's head. Mattie dodged that, but then ran into Callisto, who pulled out a dagger and held it at Mattie's neck.

"Aah!" Mattie screamed. "Does no one care about my life?"

"Not really," Callisto told her.

Sunny managed to wrestle the knife away from Callisto. "Do you want to get in trouble?" she said.

"I get in trouble if I even look at someone," Callisto responded, "so it doesn't really matter."

"Just save the killing for the bad guys, alright?" Sunny walked away and Callisto followed.

"So you think your dad kidnapped everyone?" Tataka asked.

"Probably," Hope answered. "He certainly wouldn't let himself get kidnapped." Hope looked thoughtful for a moment. "Unless, of course, he was going to use the kidnapper later on."

"Sounds like something he'd do," Tataka said. "Trick the kidnapper into believing he's a weakling, then strike."

Hope nodded. Then she looked around and leaned closer to Tataka. "That's why I'm here with these...people," she whispered. "I'm using them for my own purposes."

Tataka laughed evilly. "I don't even know why I'm here."

"Are you two whispering about me?" Mephistopheles questioned.

"No, why would we even want to _think _about you?" Hope replied.

Mephistopheles glared at her. "'Cause I'm awesome, of course."

"Just go away," Tataka said.

"Why don't you!" Mephistopheles argued.

"'Cause I told you first!"

Mephistopheles growled at Tataka, and she growled back. Hope watched in amusement.

"Can't you guys ever have a civilized conversation?" Trance asked.

"We were, until _he _ruined it," Tataka grumbled.

"You ruin yourself," Mephistopheles muttered.

"What!? Say that to my face!"

"Exactly! You ruin your ugly face with all that weird makeup!"

"Well, look at your makeup," Tataka shot back.

"I don't wear makeup!" Mephistopheles exclaimed. "This is just me!"

"Then you're face is naturally demented."

Mephistopheles attacked but Tigra suddenly appeared between them and held them apart. "Do I need to punish you two!" she threatened.

Mephistopheles pulled away from her, turned his back, and continued walking. Tigra gave Tataka a look, then followed.

"What an annoyance," Hope commented. "Why do you think _he's _here?"

The two of them pondered that. After a couple of minutes Zee and Rogue returned.

"We found a big cave, and inside is a metal tunnel," Zee reported.

"We think it probably leads up to the top of the mountain, where we're supposed to go," Rogue added.

"If you think that's what we should do then we'll go in this cave," Xena said.

"I do not want to go into another cave." Storm looked worried.

"Don't worry, darlin'," Rogue told her. "It's a really big cave. Your claustrophobia shouldn't be a problem in there." Storm reluctantly nodded her head.

"Are we there yet?" Gabrielle whined.

"Do you see a big giant cave?" Sunny asked.

"No."

"Then we're not there yet."

Gabrielle gave Sunny a look, then ran up and tapped Zee on the shoulder. "Are we almost there?" she asked.

"Well, not really," Zee replied. "But we should be there long before tonight."

The group trudged on up the mountain, wondering what they might find in the cave.

**What's in the cave and through the tunnel? Why **_**does **_**Mephistopheles hang around these people? And can anyone even have a civilized conversation? Stay with us to find out!**


	7. Chapter 7

"We're almost there," Zee said after some more walking. "Yeah, see, there it is!" Some people started jogging when Zee picked up the pace toward the entrance.

"Come on, ya'll feet draggers!" Rogue called over her shoulder.

All the little people in the back who couldn't keep up ran after them. They arrived at the cave. It was huge, and deep inside they could see the rock turn to dark grey metal. Everyone hesitated at the entrance.

"Well, here we go," Tigra said, stepping forward. Everyone else followed her into the cave. It was quite dark for a while, but when they got inside more there were lights on the walls.

"It's gonna be an alien," Mattie said, her voice shaky.

"It is not," Sunny said, but she sounded doubtful.

A loud clang suddenly echoed in the tunnel. Trance screamed and Gabrielle jumped in surprise. The Executioner clutched her axe tighter, prepared to strike at any moment. The huge tunnel widened some more and weird contraptions started appearing along the walls.

"What are these things?" Mephistopheles asked, flicking at one.

"Don't touch it!" Tataka told him. "You might set it off or something."

Mephistopheles placed his whole hand on the machine. "I'm touching it," he taunted. "Nothing's happening."

"Mephistopheles," Xena said. "Stop messing around."

Mephistopheles moved away from the wall. Another clang sounded throughout the tunnel.

"What is that?" Hope questioned.

"Maybe someone's building something with a big hammer," Zee spoke up.

"Or maybe it's a giant kitchen and all the pots and pans are banging together," Trance put in.

"Or maybe it's these two giant spiky..._things_ that slam together," Callisto clapped her hands loudly, "and smush people between them."

"That's a disturbing thought," Tigra said.

The group fell into a nervous silence. They eventually came to a door at the end of the tunnel.

"Should we open it?" Gabrielle asked.

"What else are we gonna do, paint a picture on it?" Tataka mocked.

"Shut up," Gabrielle mumbled.

They all stood there for a moment.

"Well, someone's gotta open it," Zee said after a couple of awkward, silent minutes.

"Here, I'll do it," Rogue volunteered. On the other side of the door was a vast, empty room.

"See, ya'll are scared for no reason," Rogue told them, entering the room. Everyone followed, glancing around for traps. Once they were all inside, the door slammed shut.

"Aah! They've locked us in!" Mattie cried.

"Calm yourself," Mephistopheles said. "I shut the door."

"Shouldn't we leave it open?" Mattie asked.

Mephistopheles shrugged. "Makes no difference."

"If it makes you feel better you can leave the door open," Xena said.

Mattie went over and opened the door. Then the group continued into the room. Suddenly a big thing that looked kind of like a colorful octopus with a million arms dropped from the ceiling. Everyone froze and held their breath, afraid to move.

Finally, Trance stepped forward. "Hello, my name is Trance," she said. "What's your name?" The creature grabbed her with one of its many hands.

"Hey, let go of her!" Rogue shouted. She flew toward it, but the thing took hold of her as well.

Xena charged it with her sword but it captured her too and moved over to a wall. It opened a little door near the top and placed Xena, Trance, and Rogue inside.

Then it came after the others, who scattered. But the thing took up almost the whole room and easily snatched everyone up.

"What good was it to leave the door open if no one was smart enough to run back through it!" Mephistopheles said, trying to get away.

Tigra scratched and bit at the hand holding her, but the creature just quickly threw her into the door. Tataka licked it, giving it a burn. The thing simply switched her to another hand and shook the hardly-even-injured one as it shoved Zee into the door.

It closed the door once everyone was inside. The group found themselves in some kind of control room.

"Where are we?" Hope asked.

"I told you it was an alien!" Mattie said. "None of you believed me!"

Callisto screamed, and the Executioner started attacking the walls with her axe.

"Don't panic!" Xena ordered, ducking a flying object. "Who threw that chair!"

"Everyone, calm down!" Storm called, rising up into the air. "Stop panicking!"

Everybody settled down a little bit, but then started up again when the room shook. A voice started counting down, "20, 19, 18..."

Zee rushed over to a panel. "We're in a spaceship that's about to blast off!" she announced.

"Aah! We're gonna die!" Gabrielle cried.

Sunny smacked her on the arm. "We're not gonna die."

"Ow, don't hit me!"

"Everyone, just shut up now before you cause a problem," Xena said authoritatively. Everyone shut up.

"Zee, see if you can stop the spaceship," Storm said.

Zee turned to the controls and tried a few buttons, but said, "I don't recognize this technology."

The countdown reached zero and the ship took off into space.

"Everyone, try to find a way to go back to Earth!" Storm said. Each person found a control panel and started searching.

"Course changed to Planet Z51Beta," the computer said.

"Yeah, I did something!" Hope exclaimed triumphantly.

"Hm," Rogue said beside her. "Well, I guess anything's better than that alien's planet."

"Slipstream activated," the computer announced a few seconds later.

"Uh, is that a bad thing?" Mattie asked, her finger hovering over the button she just pushed.

"It means we're going faster," Tigra said with a shrug.

"Faster away from Earth," Hope said.

"Well, I don't know what I'm doing!" Mattie responded.

"Access denied, access denied," the computer repeated over and over again as the Executioner typed random things on a keyboard. She got frustrated and raised her axe to strike.

Storm stopped her. "We do not use axes on computers," she said. "You might mess something up."

The Executioner went back to jabbing at the keyboard. She waited for Storm to look away so she could attack the panel, but Storm watched her closely.

"Course changed to Planet P32Gamma," the computer said from where Callisto pushed random buttons. "Course changed to Planet A75Alpha...Course changed to Planet H18Be- Course changed to Planet Giswo- Course changed to Planet S2-"

"Slow down, Callisto!" Tataka told her. Callisto didn't listen.

"Course changed to Planet Eart- Course changed to Planet J7-"

"Aw, you missed it!" Tataka exclaimed. "Go back!"

"I don't know how!" Callisto replied.

"Let me try." Tataka shoved Callisto aside.

"Releasing sleeping gas," the computer announced.

"Whoops," Mephistopheles said.

"Mephistopheles!" Xena exclaimed. "Make it stop!"

Sleeping gas began filling the room just as the planet came into view. The spaceship entered the atmosphere. "Landing sequence engaged," the computer stated.

Mephistopheles pushed random things, trying to make the sleeping gas leave the room. "Landing sequence disengaged. Prepare for crash-landing," the computer said.

"Mephistopheles, stop touching things!" Xena shouted.

"You told me to!" Mephistopheles replied.

They were all knocked out by the sleeping gas as the ship began to crash.

**Did anyone survive? Where are they? And how will they ever get back to Earth? One more chapter and you will know!**


	8. Chapter 8

The spaceship crashed in a grassy meadow. Hope awoke a few seconds later, not as affected by the sleeping gas as everyone else. She stared at Tataka until she woke up.

"Come on," Hope said.

"Come on where?" Tataka questioned, rising from the ground.

"To look around while there's no one here to be bossy." Hope scanned the unconscious people when she felt like someone was staring at her.

"I know you're awake, Mephistopheles. I can see your creepy yellow eyes looking at me."

Mephistopheles got up. "Where are you two going?" he asked.

"Nowhere," Tataka replied. "And you're not coming."

"Why not?"

"Because last time we interacted you tried to kill me," Tataka answered.

"No I didn't!" Mephistopheles said defensively. "I only tried to seriously harm you...permanently."

"Go away." Tataka followed Hope as she headed toward the door.

"I'll just follow you then," Mephistopheles said, walking after them.

"If you do, I'll kill you," Hope threatened.

"I'll help," Tataka added.

"Then I'll just possess another body...like yours!" Mephistopheles lunged at Tataka.

She shoved him away. "Back off. This body's already occupied."

"Are you going somewhere?" Trance suddenly asked when they neared the door.

Hope glared at her. "Shut up."

"Oh, well that's not very..."

"Shush! Don't wake them up," Hope cut her off.

"But where are you going?" Trance repeated.

"Stop distracting me!" Hope got angry and blew the door off forcefully. And loudly. A couple of people shifted, and Storm opened her eyes.

"Where are you going?" Storm asked.

"Nowhere!" Hope exclaimed. "Just to look around."

"You should not do that," Storm told her. "You might put yourself in danger."

"I'm never in danger," Hope grumbled.

"Then you might endanger others."

Hope shrugged and gave a look that said _Who cares?_

"Haha, you got yelled at," Mephistopheles teased. Hope threw him against a wall with a look. He laughed.

All the noise woke everyone else up. "Where are we?" Tigra asked, glancing out the window.

"On another planet," Zee replied.

"We need to get back to Earth," Mattie said.

"Why?" Callisto questioned.

"I don't know..."

Sunny got distracted by a beeping panel. "Ya'll, there's a message here," she told them. Everyone crowded aroud the screen, which had the words _go 2 castle _on it.

"What castle?" Gabrielle wondered.

"I might have known if _some_ people would've let me look around," Hope said.

"We shall look together," Storm said, hoping nothing bad would happen to her because of the evil glare Hope was giving her.

They all walked outside. "There," Rogue said, pointing to a castle in the distance. "There's where we have to go."

"You're just going to follow the instructions of a random screen?" Zee asked. Rogue shrugged, and the group started walking.

"Can someone carry me?" Gabrielle complained, dragging her feet.

"It's only been two minutes, you baby," Callisto said.

"I'm not a baby!"

"I'll give you a ride, Gabrielle," Xena offered, trying to stop the argument.

"Yay!" Gabrielle suddenly seemed full of energy as she leaped onto Xena.

"Ah!" Xena exclaimed. "Are you trying to break my back?"

"She would, 'cause she's fat," Tataka said.

"Hey! I'm no fatter than you!" Gabrielle responded. "And that's a fact."

"Can I have a ride too?" Mattie asked, looking hopeful. Everyone ignored her.

The group traveled for a long time. "It's like we never get closer!" Sunny groaned, staring ahead at the far-off castle.

"Try to think of something else," Storm said.

"Let's play a game," Zee suggested.

"Okay," Sunny agreed. "I spy something green."

"The grass," Zee guessed.

"No, why would I be that obvious?"

"Oh, uh... Rogue's jacket?"

"No."

"Your pants."

"No."

"I give up," Zee said. "Tell me."

"That leaf stuck in Callisto's hair," Sunny said, pointing.

"Oh, I see it," Zee replied. "Kay, my turn. I spy something purple."

"Trance?" Sunny tried.

"No."

"Hmm...Mattie's necklace?"

"Yup."

"Yeah, I got it!" Sunny cheered. "My turn. I spy something black."

"Xena's hair," Zee said.

"No."

"Tigra's underwear?"

"Nope."

"Storm?"

"Yeah."

Zee fistpumped. "Okay, I spy something big."

"Uh, the sky?" Sunny guessed.

"No." 

"Rogue's butt?"

"Wow, you're good."

Rogue glanced back but decided not to say anything. After a while they finally made it to the castle. There were tons of guards walking ontop of the wall.

"How are we gonna get in?" Trance asked.

"This way," Xena said, leading them toward a secret passageway in the wall.

"Wow, how'd you know that was there?" Gabrielle asked,

"There's always a secret entrance through the wall," Xena replied.

They all went in. The tunnel was so dark they couldn't see anything.

"Who's touching me?" Mattie asked a minute later.

"I am," Tigra answered. Then after a moment, "Atleast, I think I am. Which one of you is talking?"

"Mattie," Mattie replied.

"Oh, I don't think it's you then," Tigra said. "I think it's Gabrielle."

"No one's touching me," Gabrielle said.

"Hope?"

"Yes, now stop touching me," Hope growled.

"Who's touching me then?" Mattie asked.

"I am," said an unrecognizable voice.

"Aah!" everyone screamed at once and started running. Gabrielle ran into something.

"Keep going!" Tataka ordered.

"I can't," Gabrielle responded. "There's a brick wall here!"

"That's me, Gabrielle," Xena said.

"Oh." 

"I knew you'd come," the voice said creepily.

"Light, Callisto," Xena said.

"I don't have to listen to you," Callisto replied.

"I'll do it," Trance said. She started glowing and everyone could finally see in the dark tunnel.

Behind them was Lara. "Sorry I didn't have time to explain in the note I left," Lara said. "This alien kidnapped all the dudes and I went after them. When I saw your spaceship crash I texted you." Lara held up her cellphone.

"So, where are the dudes?" Rogue asked.

Lara shoved past everyone to the front. She led the way out of the tunnel where all the dudes were knocked out in jail cells, except for Ares and Dahak, who glared at each other from opposite corners of the room.

"The alien knocked them all out somehow. It didn't work on those two," Lara gestured to Dahak and Ares, "so I had to separate them."

Lara sighed. "If only they had helped me open the cages I wouldn't have had to drag you all here."

"No problem, sugar," Rogue said. She pulled the doors off some of the cells and Storm helped by blasting them off with strong wind. As soon as the cells were open the dudes woke up.

"Oh, a party!" Jarem exclaimed excitedly. "With all my friends!" He tried to group hug everyone but only Trance joined. She dragged Harper in.

"Hey Herc," Xena said, and they man-clasped.

"Hercules!" Gabrielle managed to jump on both of them in a hug. It started a chain reaction.

"HERCULES!" A whole group of them leaped onto poor Hercules, knocking him to the ground.

"See Herc, this is why you need to learn to say no," Iolaus said, standing beside the pile of ladies. He knew Hercules was buried under there somewhere.

"Okay everyone," Lara said, taking charge. "Let's go." She led them out of the castle and around the back to another spaceship.

"Where'd you get this?" Mattie asked.

"Oh, I kept it hidden on Earth," Lara replied. "Always be prepared, right?" So everyone got in the spaceship and flew home

**The End**


End file.
